Thomas H. Lee Partners’ $928 million purchase of CKE Restaurants, parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s quick service restaurants, appears to be an opportunistic buy rather than a broader macro bet that the restaurant sector may have bottomed.

T.H. Lee pounced on an attractive valuation, and there are a number of levers that the private equity firm can use to juice returns. If successful, the deal could open the door for more PE activity in the sector…